Capital One Bowl Diary: Day 3
December 28, 2006 | Football
Follow the University of Wisconsin football team each day as it prepares for the Capital One Bowl. From practices to leisure time, uwbadgers.com will cover it all. Make sure to check out the typeid=5&deptID=111&eventid=27"> --> photo gallery for each day as well.
A few players started their day extra early by attending an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) breakfast at 7 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Orlando. Players from Arkansas attended as well, and each team had a player speak (UW was represented by sophomore DB Allen Langford).
The rest of the team couldn't sleep in that much, because Wednesday marked the earliest practice of the week (meetings began at 8 a.m.). It also was one of the longest practices with 20 periods being held (Thursday also has a 20-period practice).
After a sunny practice the team split up'two-thirds went to Disney World, and the other third went to Florida Mall to take part in the EA Sports Tiburon Bowl-A-Palooza Challenge. Both the Badgers and Razorbacks played NCAA Football 2007 on Xbox with children from the Florida Children's Hospital right in the middle of the mall.
'It was kind of strange yet kind of cool,' senior LB Mark Zalewski said about playing as himself in a videogame. 'I like to sub myself in on offense to try to get some touchdowns.'
On a more serious note, Zalewski also said that he and his teammates enjoyed hanging out with the kids and 'letting them beat us' in the game.
Later on, senior safety Roderick Rogers and freshman RB Lance Smith were paired to play sophomore FL Reggie Fish and freshman CB Jerell Norton of Arkansas in a simulation of the Capital One Bowl. (Just by the way, Rogers controlled UW's defense, and Smith handled the offense. They thought this was a better strategy than both playing defense and both playing offense.) Here's the recap:
Wisconsin won the coin toss and deferred (what's new'). On Arkansas ' first drive, Zalewski picked off a pass to give the ball to the Badgers, who immediately scored with a touchdown pass from QB John Stocco to WR Paul Hubbard.
The next drive for the Razorbacks ended the same way as the first'a turnover, except this time, Rogers caused and recovered a fumble. The very next play was a 30-yard touchdown run by Smith (who was wearing No. 20 instead of No. 5; apparently, EA Sports guessed incorrectly).
Arkansas, down 14-0, switched to the hurry-up offense on its third possession. It apparently worked, because UA marched down the field and ended up scoring on a touchdown pass that was deflected by a UW defender into the hands of a Razorbacks receiver.
Playing mostly in a four-wide receiver set (now you know it's not reality!), the Badgers boasted a 21-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter after Stocco connected with Hubbard again.
That margin was cut to seven as early in the second quarter, Arkansas went for it on fourth-and-seven and somehow managed to score on a 90-yard touchdown pass. The Razorbacks then tied it after returning a fumble on Wisconsin's subsequent possession.
But the Badgers regained the lead as RB P.J. Hill scored following a 60-yard pass from Stocco to Hubbard. Unfortunately for them, Arkansas quickly answered with a 50-yard touchdown pass; however, UW blocked the point-after attempt to make the score 28-27.
At this point, the event staff announced that the game, which was taking way too long due to all the passing plays, would end at the half. As a result, the Badgers tried to run out the clock (2:07 left) but couldn't get a first down, so they had to punt (first punt of the game).
Amazingly, junior punter Ken DeBauche reeled of an 80-yard punt that was downed on the UA five-yard line. The field position was irrelevant, apparently, because on the Razorbacks ' second play, they scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass for their first lead of the game; their two-point try failed, making the score 33-28.
Smith wasn't about to give up. He moved his videogame character to wide receiver and caught a touchdown bomb, and Stocco's two-point conversion pass to WR Marcus Randle El gave the Badgers a 36-33 lead. UW won following Langford's interception.
'The win felt good,' Rogers, who did a lot of friendly trash talking during the game, said. 'We had some miscues here and there, but we did what we wanted to do, which was win.'
Following some downtime, some of the team went to the NBA's Orlando Magic vs. Los Angeles Lakers game. And of course, the Wisconsin media met the Badgers there and did some interviews right on the court.
Among some things to mention about the game: 1) Celebrity sightings included New York Yankees OF Johnny Damon and pro golfer Michelle Wie; 2) freshman WR Brian McCulliss and freshman DB Chris Eernisse were randomly selected to participate in the halftime contest; both lost (though McCulliss was a finalist); and 3) despite the game being sold out, the arena was only 80 percent full.
